Petra Kvitova escapes first-round scare at French Open
— -- PARIS -- Screaming in anger and hitting her racket on the red clay of Court Philippe Chatrier, Petra Kvitova came close to exiting the French Open on the first day of the Grand Slam tournament.
On a rainy Sunday, the two-time Wimbledon champion was pushed to a suspenseful three-set battle by 59th-ranked Danka Kovinic, who served for the match before Kvitova raised her game and eventually prevailed 6-2, 4-6, 7-5, taking the last three games.
In the men's draw, 17th-seeded Nick Kyrgios lost his temper and received a warning for shouting at a ball kid, but the 21-year-old Australian had no problem advancing to the second round with a 7-6 (6), 7-6 (6), 6-4 win over Marco Cecchinalo. Also advancing before rain halted play early in the afternoon was No. 19 Benoit Paire.
Of the 32 matches on Sunday's schedule, only 10 were completed before the announcement to cancel all matches for the day came at 6:28 p.m. local time.
Fifth-seeded Kei Nishikori of Japan led Simone Bolelli of Italy 6-1, 5-4, and No. 23 Jack Sock of the United States was up 6-3, 7-5, 3-6, 2-1 against Robin Haase of the Netherlands when covers were brought on all courts.
Facing a player who never got beyond the second round at any major, Kvitova looked set for a comfortable start to her campaign in the French capital after breaking Kovinic twice to seal the first set 6-2 and opening a 3-1 lead in the second.
Kovinic, of Montenegro, then changed her approach and destabilized Kvitova with her deep groundstrokes.
"I saw in the first set that my balls were very short and she controlled every point," the 21-year-old Kovinic said. "I tried to play longer points and with more spins in the second set, and it seemed good."
Kovinic produced a superb lob to even the match at one set apiece and continued to apply pressure on Kvitova with her powerful tennis.
Showing her frustration, Kvitova smacked her racket on the ground after hitting a double fault and fluffing a backhand in the ninth game of the decider. The Czech hit two more double faults in that game to drop her serve. But with her back against the wall, Kvitova recovered with a series of winners, including a backhand down the line to break back.
She then won eight of the next 10 points.
"It was a big fight again. I'm happy that I won it," Kvitova said. "I played a lot of three-set matches, but it's not my plan when I'm stepping on the court. I think that from the experience which I have already, I still can believe that I still can win it. Even if she's serving for the match."
Kvitova, who raised her modest record to 12-11 for the year, comes off a disappointing tournament in Rome, where she lost her first match to American Madison Keys.
In January, Kvitova lost in the second round of the Australian Open, to Daria Gavrilova, her earliest exit in her past eight majors. Her post-match comments suggested she still wrestles with a career-long malady of wavering confidence.
"I think that from the experience, which I have already, I still can believe that I still can win it," Kvitova said. "Even she's serving for the match or something like that. It's really like difficult and close situation in a match, but I still am trying to trust myself."
Earlier, 24th-seeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova became the first player to advance to the second round with a 6-2, 6-0 win over qualifier Sara Sorribes Tormo.
About six months after the deadly terrorist attacks in Paris, heightened security at Roland Garros was noticeable Sunday, including extra bag checks and pat-downs that led to longer-than-usual waits at the entrance gates.
Information from ESPN's Greg Garber was used in this report.
